This invention is for a quickly deployable barrier for boats. More particularly, this invention provides a non-visible, submerged ramp-shaped flotation barrier selectably released and inflated to non-lethally and non-destructively divert or stop forward progress and navigability of boats to secure an area.
Usually manned patrol craft or aircraft are sent to intercept potentially hostile boats or small water craft intruding in a restricted water area. To be successful, however, the boat or small craft must be willing to stop for closer inspection; if this isn't accomplished, the intercepting craft would have to use destructive force to engage the intruder with the danger of receiving hostile fire in return.
To reduce the hazard of friendly damage and casualties, a variety of floating barriers also have evolved to stop fast moving boats in restricted areas of water. A common approach for many barriers is to string out lengths of light weight but resilient materials such as plastic and foam. Typical examples of components and arrangements for these and other more effective barriers can be made from a series of discrete floats linked together by lines or cables. Exemplary arrangements of linked together floats and lines are being marketed as Armorfloat™ Floating Barrier Systems, see [http://armorfloat.com/]; as the SEABARRIER, see [http://www.seaward.com/products/floating-barriets/seabarrier/index.html]; and as the Small Standard Duty SEA CUSHION Marine Fenders that are made of solid foam construction with high Filament-reinforced skin in order to survive without going flat if punctured.
Another barrier design calls for establishing a perimeter fence that can absorb the impact of a fast moving boat. For example, the port security barrier system of U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,709 utilizes a continuous modular, floating barrier installed in lengths ranging from a few hundred feet to over a mile. This floating barrier is made up of a plurality of modular net structures connected to one another to form a floating security fence supported by a plurality of mooring buoys. Another similar barrier is the harbor fence disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,233,544 that is designed to be deployed in water around ships or other waterfront structures. This harbor fence has a series of spars that protrude above the water surface and are connected with an electrical computer to a telemetry subsystem. Still another related design that is said to provide controllable access to an otherwise protected area is the fence-like harbor protection apparatus of U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2006/021616A1. Side-by-side floating barrier units support nets above the water to protect an area of a body of water from waterborne craft. A gate is included to allow the craft to access or egress the protected area. Finally, there's the DUNLOP Ship Fender Barrier. The barriers made by Dunlop Inc., are inflated cylinders of a rubber-coated textile, measuring eighty-two-feet long by eight-feet in diameter. They are linked together or to a mooring buoy.
All of these contemporary barrier structures are stationary structures that float on the water in the open and are highly visible from afar. Consequently, they can be easily seen and present a target that can be neutralized or breached by explosives or bypassed by a high speed maneuverable boat.
Thus, in accordance with this inventive concept, a need has been recognized in the state of the art for a quickly deployable barrier system having a non-visible, submerged ramp-shaped flotation barrier body member automatically and/or observer released and inflated to divert or stop high speed boats from protected areas of water.